Beliefs and memories about child‐rearing across generations: mothers and grandmothers of one‐year old infants

Abstract

Grandmothers and mothers of 1‐year old infants (n = 52; 31 maternal grandmothers and 21 paternal grandmothers) rated the frequency of 14 child‐rearing techniques or values (such as spanking and permitting treats). They each made these ratings twice: once, thinking back to when the mothers were little girls (and when grandmothers were raising their own children), and a second time, reflecting on how they treat their child/grandchild today. Their differing accounts were compared to attempt to ascertain whether patterns of “like mother, like daughter” or of cohort differences emerged. The results were more complex than would be predicted by either of these simple explanations and were different for the maternal and the paternal pairs. Grandmothers and mothers often had different memories of the past, yet believed they were behaving today much as happened in the past. The findings are considered within the view that memory of the past is not an exact copy of the past but is a reconstruction which is transformed by new understandings and contemporary relationships.

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